Snow fence machine



J. D. SMITH 2,446,494

SNOW FENCE MACHINE Aug. 3, 1948.

Filed March 8, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet l J. D. SMITH sNow FENCE MACHINE Aug.3, 1948.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 8, 1945 p, ZO

Irn/entor Joseph D. Smfh O al l0 Aug- 3, 1948- J. D. sMrrH 2,446,494

SNOW FENCE MACHINE Filed March 8, 1945 5 Shee'ts-Sheet 3 |570 14 llwm 'IL I Ilm/en tor. Jose/Jh D. 5mi/71.

ed with the main drive shaft 24 has mounted thereon between thecrosshead guides a cam disc 39 formed with a face cam groove 40 in oneside thereof. This cam groove is formed with a short concentric portion4l which is connected by an eccentric portion 42 with a long concentricportion 43 and a second short eccentric portion 44 of said grooveconnects with the short concentric portion forming a somewhatheart-shaped groove.

Mounted on the spaced-apart cross bars 45 and 46 of th'e crosshead 35are rollers 41 and 48 which engage the cam groove so that as the roller41 operates in the short concentric groove 4l, the

nection 69 with a lever 19 pivotally mounted on the frame. The lever` 10is periodically operated by a cam 1I mounted on the shaft 59 or othershaft suitably connected so that at the desired inroller 4B follows thelong concentric groove 43 andl`` while the roller 41 follows the longeccentric portion 42 the other roller 48 follows the short eccen- Y tricportion 44.

The thrust of th'e cam is thus tween the spaced-apart rollers of thecrosshead which is operated first with a comparatively long movement inone direction followed by a stationary period while the rollers 41 and48 travel in the concentric-portions, then the crosshead is moved in theopposite direction.

This intermittent reciprocatingr movement of the crosshead operates thetop bar 33, the end lever 30, the bottom bar 32, lever 29, shaft 28 andthe quadrant 21 to rotate the pinion 26 and the train of fork gears,thereby turning the forks a definite predetermined number of turns totwist the wires l2 tightly around the slat which has been first placedtransversely between the wires and then moved out of the forks. l

The means for moving the slats out of the forks is particularly shown inFigure 9 in whicha bar` 49 extends transversely of. the machine belowthe fork members 1 and has guide surfaces extending upwardly between theseveral forks to guide the slats centrally into said forks whenpropelled by the spur wheels 20. y

Fingers 50 extend upwardly from the bar 49 between the fork members toengagethe forward edge of the slat placed in the forks and the said baris operated to push the slat edgeways out of the forks and into closeengagement with the previously twisted wires I2.

Secured to each end of the bar 49 is a longitudinal bar 5l provided onthe lower edge with rack teeth 52 which mesh with pinions 53 on a shaft54 journalled transversely of the main frame.

A quadrant 55 mounted on theV frame meshes with one of the pinions 53. Atrain of gears 56, 51, 5B drivenfrom a shaft 59 operate a crank G on theshaft of the gear 58 and said lever has a crank pin 6i at its outer endconnected to a link bar 82 which in turn is connected to the arm 63 ofthe quadrant.

The pinion shaft 54 has mounted th'ereon a crank 64 which operates a rod65 connected with the hinged SlatV feed frame I6 to raise and lower, theframe in synchronism with the operation .of the bar 49 for moving theslats from the forks.

This slat controlling mechanism and the spacing and trimming mechanismis not a part of the present invention and is not described in complete.detail herein.

An important feature in the present invention is to make provision fordefinitely locating the position of the wire twisting forks so that theywill come to rest at the end of each operation of the cam-operatedmechanism described with their sides in a vertical position so that theslats will enter same without obstruction. In order to accomplish thisresult and to enable accurate adjustmentthe hollow fork shaft 6 on whichythe distributed te! stant the cam will engage the lever and operate.theclutch to stop the rotation of the driving gear 25 and Yconsequentlyall the rest of the train.

" The lever 10 is provided with a suitable means foi-adjusting thecontact with the cam 1| and is vhere illustrated as a leaf spring 12adjusted by a set screw 13.

A machine as herein described is extremely accurate in its operation andthe mechanism is rugged and will effectively withstand the strenuousoperating motions and produces a uniformly secure fence in which theslats will be firmly held from displacement in the rugged service whichit is called upon togive.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In :a machine for making snow fences, th combination with a frame, aplurality of rotatable parallel wire twisting members mounted on saidframe and geared to rotate in unison, means for` feeding paired wires toeach o-f said twisters, of a flanged bushing rotatably mounted on one ofsaid wire twisting members, means for imparting rotative movement tosaid flanged bushing, a flanged member slidably and non-rotatablymounted on said wire twisting member adapted to engage the flange of theaforesaid bushing to drive the wire twisting member, and means forperiodically operating said slidable clutch member to engage anddisengage the flanged bushing.

2. In a machine for making snow fences, the combination with a frame, aplurality of rotatable parallel wire twisting members mounted on saidframe and geared to rotate in unison, means for feeding paired wires toeach of said twisters, of a anged bushing rotatably mounted relative toone of said wire twisting members, means for imparting rotative movementto said flanged bushing, a flanged bushing slidably and non-rotattvelymounted on said wire twisting member and adapted to engage the flange ofthe aforesaid .bushing to convey movement from said bushing to said wiretwisting member, a lever operating to'move said slidable member into andout of engagement with said flanged bushing, and camoperated means foroperating said clutch lever.

3. In a machine for making snow'iences, the combination with a frame, aplurality of rotatable parallel wire Itwisting members mounted on saidframe and geared to rotate in unison, means for feeding paired wires toeach of said twisters, of a flanged bushing rotataby mounted relative toone of said wire twisting members, means for imtpartingrotative movementto said flanged bushing, a flanged bushing slidably and non-'rotativelymounted on said wire twisting member and adapted to engage the flange ofthe aforesaid bushing to convey -movement from said bushing to saidlwire twisting member, a lever operating to move saidslidable memberinto 'and out of engagement with said. flanged bushing, toggle means foroperating said lever, a lever connected with said toggle means, anadjustable contact member mounted on said lever, and a cam arranged toengage said adjustable contact.

4. In a machine for making snow fences, the combination with a frame, aplurality of rotatable parallel wire twisting members mounted on saidframe and geared to rotate in unison and means for feeding paired wiresto each of said twisters, of an oscillatable member for operating said.twisters to rotate rst in one direction and then in reverse, ahorizontal bar connected with said oscillatable member, a leverconnected with said bar, a rod connected with the top of said lever, acrosshead mounted to slide horizontally and connected with said rod andhaving paired rollers, and a disc cam having a groove engaging saidcrosshead rollers and operating same with a reciprocation motion.

5. In a machine for making snow fences, the combination with a frame, aplurality of rotatable parallel wire twisting members mounted on saidframe and geared to rotate in unison and means for feeding paired wiresto each of said twisters, of an oscillatable member for operating saidtwisters to rotate first in one direction and then in reverse, ahorizontally slidable crosshead operatively connected with saidoscillatable member and having spaced-apart rollers extending from oneside thereof, a cam disc having a cam groove formed with concentriccurves connected by eccentric curves engaging said paired rollers andimparting on rotation reciprocating movement to said crosshead andconsequent reversing rotation to said wire twisters.

6. In a machine for making snow fences, the combination with a frame, aplurality of rotatable parallel wire twisting members mounted on saidframe and geared to rotate in unison and means for feeding paired wiresto each of said twisters of an oscillatable member for operating said.twisters to rotate first -in one direction and then in reverse, ahorizontally slidable crosshead operatively connected with saidoscillatable member and having spaced-apart rollers extending from oneside thereof, -a cam disc rotatably mounted adjacent said crossheadhaving a groove to engage said rollers formed with a short concentricportion and long and sho-rt eccentric portions connecting saidconcentric portions and imparting reciprocating movement to saidcrosshead.

JOSEPH D. SMITH.

REFERENCIES CITED The following references are of record in the Eile ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date l532,405 Tiffany Jan. 8, 18951,663,786 Wilson Mar. 27, 1929 1,846,685 Mattson Feb. 23, 1932 2,255,655Denning Sept. 9, 1941

